How to properly dry garlic at home after digging?

To prepare the harvested garlic crop for the whole year, you need to know a few secrets of drying it. There are several methods for drying garlic after digging, each of which prepares the vegetable for further use. Before you think about how to dry garlic after digging, you need to know the specifics of preparing the vegetable for this procedure.

Preparation

If the summer resident initially planned to use the harvested crop for drying, he needs to plant garden the right kind of vegetable. For this, it is better to use winter or French rose varieties.These varieties do not lose their taste after drying.

It is necessary to prepare the crop for drying from the moment it is harvested. Before removing vegetables from the garden, you need to make sure that the soil is thoroughly dry. Also, a couple of days before harvesting, watering should not be done. After removing garlic from the soil, it cannot be washed; it is better if its cleaning involves removing the top layer of husk. Otherwise, drying the vegetable will be problematic, moreover, it may rot.

To dry at home, you should prepare a cool room with low humidity. Do not cut off the root, foliage or stem of dug up garlic.

Drying methods

A lot of techniques have been invented that tell how to dry garlic after harvesting. Many summer residents prefer to dry the dug garlic whole in order to prolong its freshness and gain a lot of possibilities for its use. However, some of them advise drying this vegetable by immediately chopping it. This method of preparation will reduce the amount of time spent preparing the product for use in dishes.

How to dry peeled garlic?

This method is also suitable for drying greenhouse vegetables that ripen before the onset of heat. In order to dry garlic in a peeled state, you need to wait until it is ripe, remove it from the ground and clean it of the upper dirty layers. To do this, it is recommended to follow these tips:

1. The vegetable is peeled from the durable layer.
2. The head is cut into several pieces having a thickness of 5–6 millimeters.
3. The slices are distributed over a sieve. The slices are then dried in the oven. The garlic should dry at a temperature of 50 degrees.
4. Then the garlic slices are cooled to room temperature. After this, they need to be put into jars and closed well.

If desired, the prepared raw materials can be turned into powder. To do this, the slices are placed in a coffee grinder and ground. This spice can be stored for 1 year.

Solid heads

Drying garlic with whole heads at home is done when the vegetable is fully ripe. Storage is carried out in a room with good ventilation, where the temperature does not exceed 10 degrees Celsius. Then you need to follow the instructions:

1. The garlic, peeled from the top layer, is placed in one layer so that the heads do not touch each other.
2. How long does it take to dry like this? After 2 months the plant will dry out. You can recognize this by the brown tint of the foliage and wrinkled roots.
3. The roots are cut so that only 6 millimeters remain.
4. Then the top layer of leaves is removed so that the cloves are not exposed.
5. The stem is cut to a height of 2.5 centimeters from the beginning of the head.

You can use stockings to store such vegetables. They should be hung in the shade.

You can also chop this vegetable for storage. To do this, the cloves are cut into pieces of 2 millimeters. The knife must be constantly moistened with water to prevent the darkening of the slices. Then the slices are dried a little and stored in an airtight container.

Drying in a bundle

This method helps the roots and tops dry out, while the vegetable itself begins to ripen and does not lose its structure and taste. Dry vegetables in bundles at home according to the following instructions:

1. The vegetable is removed from the soil, cleaned of the top dirty layer so that the bulb is not exposed.The garlic should still have a long stalk.
2. Garlic stalks are tied into a nice tight braid so that the heads are located on opposite sides around it.
3. The bundle will dry at a temperature of 30 degrees for 6-8 days. On the last day, the excess tops are cut off.

The finished bundles are hung in a cool, dry room. Storage of braids dried at a temperature of 30 degrees can last an average of 9 months.

How to properly dry chopped garlic?

For drying, whole heads, not damaged by disease, are selected. Drying garlic in a crushed state is required according to the following instructions:

1. First of all, the product should be peeled.
2. The head is disassembled into slices and then cut into slices using a knife.
3. The slices are laid out on parchment and dried in the oven at a temperature of 93 degrees.
4. You can also use dryers: for this, the slices are placed in a device for 2 days and dried at a temperature of 35 degrees.
5. It is better to cool the dried slices and then immediately grind them with a coffee grinder to a powder state. If the resulting mass is not dry, it needs to be spread over the parchment again and dried a little. In this case, the temperature should be set to 50 degrees.

In order for the homemade powder to acquire a uniform structure, it should be passed through a sieve.

Is it possible to dry garlic in the sun?

Many summer residents wonder whether it is possible to dry the harvested garlic crop in the sun? The answer to this question is not clear-cut. The fact is that when dried in the sun, the shelf life of vegetables is greatly reduced.Therefore, only those who are engaged in the industrial cultivation of garlic are allowed to dry vegetables this way, because such drying significantly saves time. If you plan to eat the product yourself after harvesting, drying the garlic requires a longer method.

Drying in the shade is considered best. If a summer resident decides to dry a vegetable for planting it for the next season, it must be dried in the sun after harvesting for 3 days. Drying is carried out during the day; at night, the garlic is removed to a dry room.

The described methods allow you to preserve the harvested crop for a long period in a dried form. It is worth considering that such preparation at home helps to preserve all the beneficial properties of the product. You can store the prepared product in sealed jars or in a well-ventilated place, for example, in wicker baskets, stockings, or bundles. Dried vegetables should be regularly inspected for the appearance of rot or mold.